Forfar Athletic 2 Dumbarton 4

Forfar made it four league outings without a win this afternoon as Dumbarton grabbed all three points in a six-goal thriller.

Ray McKinnon named one change to the side who were narrowly defeated by Spartans last weekend with Tomas Brindley replacing Mark Whatley.

At a breezy Station Park the Loons started the brighter of the two sides enjoying a lot of possession in the opening stages. Just ten minutes in and Callum Moore registered a shot on goal. Stuart Morrison with some persistent work out wide whipped in a cross, Dumbarton cleared, but it fell to Moore on the volley who fired it into the keepers’ hands.

Forfar were in control, but the threat from the visitors was there on the break, and the Loons were made to pay after 16 minutes. A fast move down the Sons left wing found James Hilton in the penalty area. After weaving past a couple of challenges the forward’s deflected effort wriggled beyond the helpless McCallum in goal.

The hosts didn’t let Hilton’s opener restrain them. In the matter of minutes Seb Ross rounded Broun in the Dumbarton goal but his pass couldn’t reach Morrison in the middle. Moments later Moore slipped a ball through the visitor’s back line but Ross was unable to latch on for the crucial touch.

Dumbarton continued to pose problems on the counter attack, this time through Kalvin Orsi who headed over McCallum’s goal via Hilton’s cross.

Approaching the half hour mark Forfar finally levelled things up. Finn Robson was tripped in the box forcing referee Ryan Lee to point to the spot. Josh Skelly stepped up and despatched the spot kick, sending Broun the wrong way.

Skelly almost grabbed his second of the game minutes later when his half volley was palmed out for a corner by the Dumbarton keeper. Suddenly the game had burst into life. Michael Ruth had a shot blocked before Matthew Shiels fired one over as the first half looked to be drawing to a close.

A crazy ending to the first half saw Dumbarton extend their lead twice. A clever ball from James Hilton to feed Kalvin Orsi in the box caught Forfar off guard. Orsi squared the ball back for Shiels who slammed the ball home to put Dumbarton 2-1 up.

The visiting supporters had barely quietened down when Seb Ross broke beyond the Dumbarton defence and juggled the ball excellently before an inch perfect finish lobbed Broun and tied things up once again.

McKinnon’s side looked to be heading in all square but the Sons had other ideas. Dumbarton were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box despite their protests for a penalty of their own. Hilton’s free kick was well disguised to find Finlay Gray at the edge of the area and the midfielder’s curled effort soared into the top corner leaving McCallum no chance.

That was to be the last action of the first 45 with Forfar unlucky to be behind. The second half had much to live up to, and unfortunately it failed to do so. The half, and the game, would be defined by the first 15 minutes of the restart.

Just seven minutes into the second half Skelly found himself one-on-one with Broun but before he could pull the trigger was brought down from behind. All eyes were on the referee who incredibly waved play on. The Loons very unfortunate to be denied a second penalty, the visitors lucky not to be a man down.

Forfar struggled to come back from the baffling decision as just six minutes later Dumbarton found themselves 4-2 in front. Tony Wallace headed past McCallum unmarked in the area from a corner.

The travelling supporters were celebrating again around five minutes later but a would-be goal number five was disallowed for offside.

A comeback was never on the cards despite Skelly’s close effort with 15 minutes remaining.

A disappointing afternoon petered out in a 4-2 defeat for the Loons but McKinnon’s men were left to ponder what if after the penalty shout.

Forfar remain 8th in the table and face a tough challenge to title challengers Peterhead next Saturday before closing out 2023 at home to East Fife.

McKinnon could be without captain Andrew Munro for the trip north with the centre back substituted early in the game. But there’s great optimism after a promising first half performance with the Loons scoring twice in the same game for just the third time this league campaign.

C’mon the Loons.